June 23, 2010
Flash Week continues at Collected Editions with my guest review of Flash: The Human Race. The trade covers the second half of the year-long Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run: The Flash must run in a cosmic race or else the Earth will be destroyed, but even afterward, death comes for him in the form of the Black Flash. Finally, rounding out Grant Morrison’s Flash solo stories is a short from Secret Origins which retells the classic “Flash of Two Worlds” in modern Post-Crisis continuity.
June 8, 2009
It’s a big Flash week, with the third issue of the now-six-part Flash: Rebirth, a new trade paperback collecting the second half of the Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run from the late 1990s, the Final Crisis hardcover, and various team books.
The Flash: Rebirth #3
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver
At last, the answer to the question that’s plagued DC fans for decades: Who’s faster, Superman or The Flash? Call your bookie and bet the farm, because you’ve never seen a run like this — and if speedsters keep dying at the pace they’re going, you might never see another one again!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). 5-page preview.
3 of 5 6 · 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
Notes: I’ve mentioned before that the question of who’s faster has been answered many times over. It’s always close, and if there’s a winner, it’s always the Flash.
Flash: The Human Race TP
Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar
Art by Mike Parobeck, Paul Ryan, Pop Mhan, Steve Lightle and others
Cover by Steve Lightle
Grant Morrison and Mark Millar’s run with the Fastest Man Alive continues here! Collects The Flash #136-141 as well as a story from Secret Origins #50.
160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
Note: The story from Secret Origins #50 is almost certainly Grant Morrison’s retelling of “Flash of Two Worlds.” Pre-order from Amazon or read about it here.
Team books and more after the cut: Read the rest of this entry »
December 16, 2008
The newsletter DC Comics Direct Channel #914 identifies the contents of the upcoming Flash Presents: Mercury Falling and Flash: The Human Race trade paperbacks.
May 2009: Flash Presents: Mercury Falling (Todd Dezago, Ethan Van Sciver) will collect Impulse #62-67. That covers the 5-issue story arc itself as well as the one-issue epilogue guest-starring the Justice League, Justice Society and Young Justice.
June 2009: Flash: The Human Race (Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Paul Ryan, Pop Mhan) will collect Flash v.2 #136-141 and a story from Secret Origins #50. The Flash issues cover both “The Human Race” and “The Black Flash.”
The Secret Origins story is undoubtedly the retelling of the classic “Flash of Two Worlds,” (Flash v.1 #123) in which Grant Morrison figured out how to incorporate the parallel-world story into a single-world setting. Unless I’ve forgotten something, this volume and Flash: Emergency Stop will cover all of Grant Morrison’s Flash solo work.
It also lists the Final Crisis hardcover coming out in June, along with the Final Crisis Companion trade paperback, which includes all the FC one-shots (including Superman: Beyond, which started as a one-shot that just got too long.) No word yet on when Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge will be collected, but there are supposed to be more summer 2009 announcements later this week.
October 28, 2008
More Flash news from Collected Editions: Fall 2009 will also see the release of the trade paperback, Flash: The Human Race. No doubt this will collect Flash #136-141, containing “The Human Race” (Grant Morrison & Mark Millar, with art by Paul Ryan & John Nyberg) and “The Black Flash,” (Mark Millar with art by Pop Mhan & Chris Ivy), rounding out the Morrison/Millar run on The Flash starts with January’s release of The Flash: Emergency Stop.
Frankly, I’m surprised they went with “The Human Race” as the title. I think “The Black Flash” is a more well-remembered (and well-regarded) story, particularly given the character’s recent appearances in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive — Full Throttle.
Now if DC will just start filling in some of the missing stories from the Mark Waid/Brian Augustyn run…
Update: Amazon now shows a release date of June 9, 2009.
September 15, 2008
Contrary to previous reports, it turns out that “The Black Flash” isn’t getting the collected edition treatment just yet. Now that DC’s December solicitations are out, they’ve officially solicited the January 21 release of The Flash: Emergency Stop. It’s confirmed at a $12.95 trade paperback covering Flash vol.2 #130-135 — only half of the Grant Morrison/Mark Millar run.
So what does that include?
- “Emergency Stop” — Flash vs. the Suit, with a time travel mystery.
- A one-shot fighting the Mirror Master.
- A one-shot focusing on Jay Garrick.
- The third part of the “Three of a Kind” crossover with Green Arrow and Green Lantern.
See also my overview of the whole run.
The surprise here isn’t that it’s only half the run. 6 issues is typical for a collection these days, and since the whole run is 12 issues, that makes it easy to cover the whole thing in two books.
The surprise is that with “Three of a Kind,” they included 1/3 of a 3-part story. At least it should flow reasonably well, since it was told with its own framing sequence, but it’s still an odd choice.
Update: “The Black Flash” will appear in Flash: The Human Race, shipping in June 2009.
June 20, 2008
Here’s a quick update on the earlier post about the Morrison/Millar run getting the trade paperback treatment. Collected Editions reports that “The Black Flash” will be included in The Flash: Emergency Stop.
This is a good move, as it’s the story from that period that has added the most to the mythos. The Black Flash, the personification of death for speedsters, has shown up in two pivotal arcs: “Mercury Falling” in Impulse, and “Full Throttle” in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. It was in “Full Throttle” that Inertia and the Rogues killed Bart Allen, just a short time into his career as the fourth Flash. The consequences of that event have spun into Countdown, Salvation Run, the current “Fast Money,” and the upcoming Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge.
Incidentally, several months ago the Black Flash made an appearance in Something Positive as the only Flash villain that Davan MacIntire likes. The presentation almost makes it look kindly as it carries a dying Flash away. (Warning: while that particular strip is “work-safe,” the webcomic and the commentary often feature adult language, situations, and offensive humor.)
June 15, 2008
Updated: See end of post! Back in 1997, Mark Waid took a break from writing The Flash so he could work on JLA: Year One. Final Crisis scribe Grant Morrison and Civil War writer Mark Millar stepped in for a year, co-writing issues #130-138, with Millar writing #139-141 solo. At the end of the year, Waid and Brian Augustyn returned with the epic “Chain Lightning.” To date, none of the Morrison/Millar run has ben collected.
The stories had a much more sci-fi take on the character than had been seen since the Silver Age, and included:
Emergency Stop (#130-132): The Flash finds his own dead body, sent back in time from the future, and has to solve his own murder. Introduced The Suit, the ultimate super-villain costume that came to life, draining those who wore it.
Flash Through the Looking Glass (#133), battling the Mirror Master.
Still Life in the Fast Lane (#134): A spotlight on Jay Garrick, the original Flash, as he fills in for an injured Wally West.
Three of a Kind (#135): Part of a crossover with Green Lantern and Green Arrow, in which the youngest members of the Justice League try to take a vacation…only to find a trio of super-villains is on the same cruise.
The Human Race (#136-138): Wally must compete in a galactic race against his childhood imaginary friend, Krakkl of the planet Kwyzz. If he loses, Earth is destroyed. If he wins, Krakkl’s homeworld is destroyed.
The Black Flash (#139-141): Death comes to everyone, even speedsters… but this time, Death takes the wrong target. Introduced the Black Flash, who featured prominently on the cover of last year’s cover for Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13 (remember those Dead Flash Covers?).
Now, eagle-eyed Comic Bloc poster Lee H has spotted The Flash: Emergency Stop
on Amazon, coming in January 2009. There’s no official word yet, and the Amazon listing doesn’t include a page count, so it’s not clear how many of the issues will appear. We may find out soon, however: tomorrow DC will announce solicitations for September, and they usually include upcoming collected works as well.
Update (June 20): Collected Editions reports that the book does include “The Black Flash.” Whether that means the entire run is included, or just the first and last arcs, remains to be seen.
Update: It turns out that the 12-issue run is being split across two trades, Emergency Stop and The Human Race. “The Black Flash” appears in the latter.
